Coby Thornton's Chapter 9 Reflection

Taberski states that a child's knowledge of phonics is not the "sole determinant" of how easily a child will catch onto reading, making connections and using what we know to learn new things are just as important. The main lesson is don't worry about formally teaching children all of the "thirty-seven" spelling patterns because throughout the year you will run into frequently used words that rhyme with each other thus creating an opportunity for the children to spot spelling patterns.

Taberski seems to be challenging teachers to teach spelling by helping the children to find and apply their own patterns. This strategy reminds me of times when Neil Pateman will say, "Stop telling the children the answers! Ask them questions so that they can figure it out on their own."

As I reflect on my own experiences of learning how to read I realized that I was taught phonics as a starting point but I was trained by reading things and noticing patterns and contexts. (Not always books.) One of the first patterns I remember finding was when I read the word "pow" while I was playing "Super Mario 3." I realized that the "ow" at the end made an ow sound and so I could use that when trying to spell other words such as wow, now, how, etc. I still can't figure out how I could start spinning the wheels of that thought process in a way that would be practical for a classroom full of children. What questions could I ask? What activities could I do?